Asia-Pacific ETF Boom Accelerates as Active ETFs Enter a New Growth Phase
London – Wednesday, September 30, 2026 – In a recent episode of ETF TV, Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner of ETFGI, and Margareta Hricova, Managing Director at ETFGI, spoke with Philippe El-Asmar, Managing Director, Head of ETF, Direct & Digital, Asia Pacific at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, about the trends reshaping the Asia-Pacific ETF market and the growing momentum behind active ETFs.
El-Asmar highlighted that Asia-Pacific has become one of the fastest-growing ETF regions globally, with locally listed ETF assets reaching approximately US$2.7 trillion1. While the global ETF industry has historically doubled in size every five years, Asia-Pacific ETF assets have been doubling roughly every three years. Japan has recently overtaken China as the region's largest ETF market, while Taiwan, Korea, India, and China markets are expected to be among the key drivers of future growth.
A central theme of the discussion was the rapid development of active ETFs across the region. Although many Asia-Pacific markets only approved active ETFs within the past decade, active ETF assets have already reached approximately US$180 billion2. El-Asmar noted that adoption remains uneven because regulatory approvals have occurred at different times across markets, but he expects the pace of growth to accelerate as more countries open their markets to active ETFs
China is expected to become a major catalyst for the next phase of industry growth, with the first active ETF launches anticipated in the coming months. El-Asmar also suggested that India could eventually follow, creating additional opportunities for issuers and investors.
The discussion also explored changing investor preferences. Across Asia-Pacific, income remains one of the strongest investment themes, with covered call and derivative-income ETFs proving particularly popular among retail investors. Institutional investors, meanwhile, are increasingly using ETFs for cash management, yield enhancement, and benchmark-plus strategies designed to generate alpha while maintaining core market exposure.
Looking ahead, El-Asmar believes investor education will be critical. With nearly 5,200 active ETFs globally3, helping investors understand the benefits, risks, and appropriate use cases of these products will be essential to sustaining long-term adoption.
As active ETFs gain traction and new markets open to innovation, the Asia-Pacific region appears poised to remain one of the most dynamic growth engines in the global ETF industry.
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1. Source: Bloomberg, Morningstar, Local ETF AUM data as of 30 June 2026. Local AUM is for locally domiciled ETFs only.
2. Source: ETFGI, Bloomberg, J.P. Morgan Asset Management projection, data as of 31 July 2026.
3. Source: Bloomberg, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, as of 30 Jun 2026.
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